Take Action on Current Issues
Effective advocacy starts with knowing your issues and staying abreast of policy developments that affect Pacific Northwest public lands and The Mountaineers experience. Read on for more on current issues from our advocacy agenda, and for and how you can take action as an outdoor advocate.
Current Advocacy Issues
LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION
Mountaineers rely on conserved public lands and waters for our outdoor adventures and the many other benefits they provide. We’re currently working to protect the special natural places where we recreate by advocating for these important policy and management priorities:
- Protecting the Wild Olympics by securing additional Wilderness protections for the lands and waters of the Olympic National Forest through the passage of the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild & Scenic Rivers Act.
- Permanently safeguarding Roadless areas in the North Cascades.
- Securing passage of the Roadless Area Conservation Act to protect Roadless areas across the National Forest system.
- Advocating for public lands and the recreation experience during the process to amend the Northwest Forest Plan.
- Permanently protecting the Green River Valley near Mount St. Helens from mining through the passage of a legislative mineral withdrawal in Congress.
PUBLIC LANDS FUNDING
In the face of intensifying climate change impacts and increasing recreational use, public land managers need robust funding to protect our natural spaces. The Forest Service and other land management agencies have experienced declining funding for decades. This is how we’re fighting for a bold investment to protect our natural landscapes:
- Advocating for increased appropriations for state and federal land managers so these agencies are better resourced to manage sustainable recreation access and conserve their lands.
- Supporting Land & Water Conservation Fund projects that would make a difference for Washington’s public lands.
- Advocating for increased funding for the Washington Wildlife & Recreation Program - the state’s largest public funding source for outdoor community projects.
- Monitoring implementation of Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) projects across Northwest public lands and communicating GAOA successes in support of the program’s reauthorization.
CLIMATE ACTION
The climate crisis is an urgent, existential threat to our communities and the natural landscapes we love. The future of our organization and the planet depend on bold climate action and climate-resilient public lands and waters. We’re currently working to advance federal and state climate policy by:
- Monitoring implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and sharing with decision-makers and the recreation community how this critical funding is supporting climate-resilient public lands in Washington.
- Monitoring implementation of Washington's Climate Commitment Act, which provides funding for natural climate solutions and other critical climate investments.
- Tracking and engaging in opportunities from the Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful initiative, towards protecting 30 percent of Washington’s public lands and waters by 2030.
SUSTAINABLE & EQUITABLE OUTDOOR ACCESS
When we connect people to place, we build advocates for public lands and the outdoor experience. We’re currently working to ensure sustainable and equitable access to the outdoors through the following priorities:
- Removing barriers to outdoor access through the passage of the Simplifying Outdoor Access to Recreation Act.
- Improving outdoor recreation and protecting climbing in Wilderness by securing passage of the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act.
- Advocating for additional funding for the No Child Left Inside program, which has directly supported our Mountain Workshops.
- Engaging in and commenting on federal and state land planning processes, and amplifying opportunities for our members to share their experiences and feedback directly with land managers.
TAKE ACTION
It’s important that decision-makers hear directly from you on why we must protect public lands and outdoor recreation in Washington. Take action by personalizing and sending one of our current advocacy actions below, and learn more about how to advocate effectively through our Advocacy 101 eLearning course and our Conservation 101 blogs.
- Keep Up the Momentum for the EXPLORE Act
- Fund the Forest Service to Protect Public Lands
- Take Action for Wildfire Response and Resiliency
- Protect the Wild Olympics by Signing this Coalition Petition
- Protect Ancient Forests and Backcountry Recreation